The present invention relates generally to escalators and, in particular, to an apparatus for cleaning the steps of an escalator as the escalator is operating.
If relatively long intervals are scheduled for the periodic cleaning of escalators. the treads and front surfaces of the steps, both of which have ribs and grooves formed thereon, tend to collect dirt sediment which requires additional or more frequent cleaning operations. A portion of the dirt which is deposited on the steps is dumped automatically into dirt hoppers at the upper or lower return regions, especially in dry weather and depending on the direction of travel of the escalator Another portion of the dirt, however, can be deposited in the grooves and can only be removed with difficulty For this reason, various devices for the cleaning of escalators in particular for the steps of escalators, have been constructed and utilized with some degree of success.
German Patent Application No. 37 04 388 shows cleaning equipment for the steps of escalators which is provided as an independent, portable unit The cleaning equipment consists of a supporting bracket with a rocker bar carrying an electric motor and a rotatably supported brush roller driven by a V-belt. Additionally, in the immediate vicinity of the brush roller, a suction device can be provided for removing the brushed-off dirt. The cleaning equipment with its supporting bracket is placed, for example on the lowest step of a stopped escalator. The rocker bar with the brush roller is directed against the higher adjacent step The motor is turned on and the rotating brush roller is pressed manually onto the front surface of the adjacent step with the aid of the rocker bar The brush roller is moved upward on the step and guided over the horizontal tread. In this way. the grooved front surface and the grooved tread of the step are cleaned by the brush roller which extends to the bottom of the grooves and the brushed-off dust is removed by suction. For the cleaning of the next step, the cleaning device is placed on the cleaned tread and again the next higher adjacent step is cleaned. The process is repeated until all visible steps of the escalator are cleaned. In order to clean all steps of the escalator, the step belt is moved forward by stages through temporary switching-on of the escalator and cleaned as described earlier until all steps of the escalator have been cleaned. A drawback of this device is that the relatively unwieldy cleaning equipment is required, which device must be dragged or pulled around on the escalator, that the cleaning can only take place when the escalator is not operating and that there exists a certain danger of accidents if during the moving forward by stages of the step conveyor, the cleaning equipment remains placed on a step and is not removed from the escalator A further drawback is the fact that a certain region on the inner edge between the tread and the front surface of an adjacent step cannot be reached by the round brush roller and, therefore, cannot be cleaned adequately.
German Patent No. 30 16 597 shows another device for cleaning the steps of an escalator which device is permanently built into a return point of the escalator. The cleaning device consists of an adjustable base frame with a carrying device supported on rails and a fixed cleaning brush. By force of springs, the cleaning brush is pressed against the passing steps at the return point and the tread of each step is continuously brushed and cleaned while the escalator is operating. A disadvantage of this cleaning device is that the front surfaces of the steps cannot be cleaned because the front surfaces are not easily accessible in the region of the return points.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an escalator cleaning device which continuously cleans every front surface of the steps as the escalator continues to operate.